bug fun at harvest time

[Guest]

ok, so my sativa dominant APOLLO11 is going on week 10, and the first batch of nugs i trim and test stopped smelling like hay, and smell sweet and stanky. the problem is.
SPIDER MITES.
or as i call them 'LITTLE FUCKERS"
what happens to them when i dry the bud out...?? i want them to burn. but not into my lungs. or am i thinking too hard? they probably abandon ship once hung upsideown huh?!
anyways.
Fishing for replys from the prople who know more then me.

p.s. i was gona get some of these little guys for the next harvest.
( http://www.naturescontrol.com/mite.html )
( http://www.naturescontrol.com/spidermitedestroyers.html )
my clones already are starting to have colonys i wipe them out with this organic miteacide i got from my local hydrostore but i wanted to be effective, miteacide isnt for flowering plants.

 

[sproutco]

 

[Patsheba]

If you are going organic, get lady bugs first. Make sure you got live ladies on them daily thru harvest. Best bet, is a lady bug farm, available thru teacher/school supply outlets. Keep in other place and release ladies as required. Ladybugs are available in containers at many garden supply stores.

For severe infestation, Neem oil is an option, but most brands are systemtic (will be absorbed and retained by plant for about 30 days), so I prefer Organicide (hydro stores, tho I grow in dirt), harvest just 2 or 3 days after of not using Organicide, but spraying frequently with water will removed most of it, and it doesn't really taste that bad, for spots you might have missed rinsing good enough. Some say discard crop, but after a couple losers, I learned we want a harvest anyways. Something is better than nothing.

With one cycle, I was hand wiping the leafs with Organicide about every 3 days. Very time consuming, but one of our best harvests. Cook with the leafs pretty promptly after harvest, or eggs will hatch and eat! Buds seem pretty clean/safe then.

Good luck!

 

[Guest]

ive ben hand wiping the leafs a bit too. i pull the badly infested ones.
lady bugs eat spider mites?

 

[Bozo]

Lady bugs love eating spidermites

 

[Guest]

no shit. im gona get some on my way home from work, i saw them at home depot a few days ago. if not then at my fav. hydro store tommorow!!
thanx guys! i thought thoes special beatles were a tad expensive.

what about my nugs with the bugs??
the ones drying with fucking mites on them?? do the mites jump off?

 

[Patsheba]

I hang dry for a week (with a fan on it), and yes, you see some webs where they've abandoned ship, but to be sure, I put a handful of ladybugs in the cure paperbag with bud every couple days for the next 2-4 weeks. This way, I have thus far avoided any live mites in my stash bags. Microwave cure or amost cured seems to kill them off also.

Oh yes, day it comes up, I do intense full trim, and slow cook results immediately. They will eat up your trim while awaiting it to dry, the eggs are on the underside of those leafs, so get them off and away from buds you wanna save.

 

[Guest]

I hang dry for a week (with a fan on it), and yes, you see some webs where they've abandoned ship, but to be sure, I put a handful of ladybugs in the cure paperbag with bud every couple days for the next 2-4 weeks. This way, I have thus far avoided any live mites in my stash bags. Microwave cure or amost cured seems to kill them off also.

Oh yes, day it comes up, I do intense full trim, and slow cook results immediately. They will eat up your trim while awaiting it to dry, the eggs are on the underside of those leafs, so get them off and away from buds you wanna save.

thanks man,
i had some thats along thoes lines. i pulled all the water leafs and trimmed alot of the 1's-3's-5's to the base of the stem.(so the stub wont mold)
shook the crap out of the remaining nugs over a trash can ...

i have them in a closet with a fan, imgetting ladybugs tommorow.

 

[Patsheba]

hehehe

Got some hanging now myself. Got the canola oil simmering on stove. Last trim batch went into some oatmeal, pecan, lotta chocolate chip Christmas gift cookies. This batch will be for our cookies! Is mostly Mothers Finest and some Cindy 99/Purple Rom.

Its reassuring to see others who just can't afford to scrap a batch. Last winter we redid room to make "clean room" yet, still keep getting mites back eventually (they show up when it's budding and smelling good and you can't use a pyrtheum (sp) bomb). I'm thinking of maybe trying one of those sonic bug things. Got one SSH finishing, then will be recleaning (with an ozone generator too!) room.

But, got lots of Organicide left, so life ain't too bad. Shit, it's harvest time, life's a piece of cake! To think, I used to really hate Christmas!

 

[Patsheba]

hehehe

The outdoor grow got tomato worms, these last few are those brought in so I could pick off any baby worms daily. Fortunately, after the first week, have found very few, and affected buds are refilling out.

 

[Guest]

i just got a bag of ladybugs today
i watched them eat the mites for like an hour or two! it was great! better then disneyland! i didnt wet them down so they would fly around. i smell them burn in the lights or in my a/c and i get sad. there so cute!
i got 1/3 the bag in the fridge waiting. ive got 2 plants getting pulled within this week and 10 at week 4~5 so they need defence. im happy you told me they work on mites!thanks!

 

[Patsheba]

Yeah, who would have thought that the crunch of lady bugs beneath your feet would be comforting! Especially when they are FAT!

I've grown accustomed to them now. Yell at hubby when he wakes them up in the farm, you just never know what changes life is gonna bring ya.

I'm thinking it could be you that pm'd me? I got like, 50 posts to go, but eventually I'll get it and respond!